Tag Archives: Massachusetts

Nov. 8 Vote YES ON QUESTION 3

October 19, 2016 admin

This election – Nov. 8 – please VOTE YES ON QUESTION 3!!!!

Really, it’s modest farm animal protection! No one is asking anyone to go vegan! We want to alleviate some of the suffering of pigs, veal calves, chickens. And make our food safer…and help our planet.

Below, we’ve made some sentences bold.

– Rosalie Tirella

But first, “Sir Paul,” for the animals:

*******

By Citizens for Farm Animals

Residents of the Commonwealth have shown time and time again that we support commonsense protections for animals, the environment, and food safety.

November 8 Massachusetts voters will
have the opportunity to vote YES! on Question 3 to implement a modest animal protection reform.

Question 3 will prevent farm animals from being crammed into cages so small they can’t even turn around or extend their limbs, will improve food safety, and will support family farmers.

A YES! vote on Question 3 will also ensure that certain food items sold in the Commonwealth are compliant with these modest standards.

Major companies like Walmart and McDonald’s are already making similar improvements.

Question 3 Prohibits Cruel Confinement of Farm Animals

Vote YES! on Question 3 to prevent animal cruelty: Within days or even hours of birth, calves raised for
veal are often chained by their necks in crates too narrow to turn around or lie down comfortably. The crates essentially immobilize these playful, energetic creatures, preventing them from engaging in almost any natural behaviors.

This lack of movement inhibits natural muscle development, often to such an extent that the calves are unable to walk to slaughter.

Vote YES! on Question 3 to prevent animal cruelty: Pigs are highly social and intelligent animals.

For years, female pigs used for breeding are confined in crates only two feet wide — so small the animals can’t even turn around or take more than a step forward or backward.

This extreme immobilization atrophies the pigs’muscles and bones. Since these inquisitive animals are denied mental stimulation, many become neurotic
and exhibit coping behaviors, such as repetitive biting of the bars in front of them.

Vote YES! on Question 3 to prevent animal cruelty: On many egg factory farms, hens are crammed into cages so small the birds can’t even spread their wings.

Packed five or more to a cage, each hen is forced to spend her whole life in a meager amount of space that’s smaller than an iPad. Virtually unable to move, the hens can’t engage in almost any of their natural behaviors, such as perching, nesting, foraging or even
walking more than a few steps.

In cages, chickens may suffer from bone fractures, feather-loss, and metabolic disease; some hens even become caught in the wire and die of starvation, unable to reach the food or water just inches away from them.

Question 3 Establishes Modest Standards
Vote YES! on Question 3 to ensure that substandard, inhumane, and unsafe products from these cruel confinement systems aren’t sold in our Commonwealth.

Question 3 Improves Human Health and Food Safety

Vote YES! on Question 3 to help keep our food supply safe. Industrial animal operations put our health at risk: cramming tens of thousands of animals into tiny cages promotes the spread of diseases.

The Center for Food Safety endorses this measure because numerous studies show that egg operations that confine hens in cages have higher rates of Salmonella, the leading cause of food poisoning-related death in America.

Animals kept in extreme confinement often live in their own waste and are pumped full of drugs that can
taint the food we eat.

Vote YES! on Question 3 on November 8, 2016

Protect animals and our families’ food supply!

To learn more visit: http://www.citizensforfarmanimals.com/resources!

Get involved to help farm animals!

THANK YOU!

InCity Yum Yums

Why Worcester is not a capital city

July 29, 2016 admin

MCAD building – in Boston

By Gordon Davis

During the late 18th century and the early 19th century the capitals of several Atlantic states moved from port cities to inland locations.

This did not happen in Massachusetts, and Worcester did not become the capital of the Baystate.

There are several reasons for this non event: The first is that the farmers of Massachusetts never were able to become significantly influential in the Commonwealth’s business. The farmers were reduced to being essentially outlaws with the failure of Shay’s Rebellion.

A second reason for Worcester not becoming the state capital is that most of the movements of state capitals inland were to locations easily accessible from the port cities by water or rail. Hartford was connected to New Haven by the Connecticut River, Albany to New York by the Hudson River.

Worcester was connected by river canal and by rail to Providence. During the 19th century it was easier to get to Providence from Worcester than it was to get to Boston from Worcester. Worcester and points west were outside of Boston’s concerns. There was no need for State offices outside of Boston.

The big change came with the Massachusetts Turnpike. Worcester leaders were happy that Boston stayed out of their affairs. The Turnpike was, to some extent, the quickening of Worcester becoming a part of Boston and the reduction of the Worcester bosses’ influence.

The old timers in the unions I have spoken with say that the reason the Massachusetts Turnpike was for decades never in Worcester was because our city leaders wanted to keep the General Motor assembly plant from being located on Airport Hill. The Auto Workers Union during 20th Century was the most progressive or left large union in the country.

The Worcester leaders won this battle, and General Motors built the assembly plant in Framingham. The backward thinking leaders of that Worcester still affect our city today. Negatively. There is no turnpike connection to the Worcester Airport.

With the improvement of passenger rail service to Worcester and the opening of the Route 146 Turnpike connection, and Route I190 to the twin cities of Leominster-Fitchburg there is a new wheel and spoke of the so called hub of Boston. In many ways Worcester is more of a hub as it has highways going east.

The material conditions are such that the Commonwealth could begin to consolidate State buildings and State jobs into the Worcester area.

The infrastructure exists!

For most people in Massachusetts, including Metro West, North Shore, South Shore, Connecticut Valley and Western Massachusetts, it is easier to get to Worcester that it is to get to downtown Boston.

Of course, there is no way the Capital of Massachusetts will move out of Boston nor the Capitol from the Statehouse. The political and historical impediments are just too great.

However, the sale of underutilized or obsolete State-owned buildings in Boston might be a windfall for the Commonwealth. The construction of more efficient building in the Worcester area might be a money saver and a way to relieve the congested traffic issues of Boston.

Looking to the future, something along these lines will have to be done. It makes sense to start thinking about them sooner rather than later, Worcester!

Animal Issues

Jim parked in A.I!

May 11, 2016 admin

Congressman McGovern Applauds Bipartisan Action to Address Opioid Crisis

Calls for Stronger Funding to Support National Effort

On the House floor today, Congressman Jim McGovern spoke in support of bipartisan legislation to tackle the opioid epidemic hurting so many communities in Western and Central Massachusetts.

The bills debated today were H.R. 5046, the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction (COARA) Act, and H.R. 4641, a bill to provide for the establishment of an inter-agency task force to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication, and for other purposes.

OPIOID EPIDEMIC IS AN ‘EMERGENCY’

“We need to provide funding to our communities struggling to deal with the opioid and heroin crisis. This is an emergency. That’s how you have to classify this and look at this. This is an emergency. People are dying,” Congressman McGovern said. “Without providing the additional resources needed, we will not be part of the solution.

“So I think that we need to understand that this crisis has risen to the level of an emergency. We need to do what’s right. We need to not only pass these bills, but we need to commit in a bipartisan way that we’re going to provide the necessary funding and I hope we can do that. If we don’t do that – all the speeches that we give this week will amount to empty rhetoric. We need to make sure we fund these priorities.”

ACTION IN MASSACHUSETTS

McGovern praised local efforts led by the Central Massachusetts Opioid Task Force and the Opioid Task Force serving Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region and thanked his fellow members of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation – Representatives Joe Kennedy (MA-04), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Bill Keating (MA-09), and Stephen Lynch (MA-08).

“In New England, we know all too well the terrible toll of the opioid epidemic. Having seen the damage it has done to the communities that I represent in Central and Western Massachusetts, tackling the opioid epidemic has long been a top priority for me,” McGovern added.

“Instead of giving in to despair, communities in Massachusetts and across the country are responding to the opioid epidemic with strength and with courage. They are helping to lead grassroots, state and national coalitions to raise awareness and educate people about the crisis and provide resources to help those ensnared by the addiction.

“The Central Massachusetts Opioid Task Force, chaired by Worcester County District Attorney Joe Early, is a great example of this. They are working to bring greater awareness of the problem to residents. Members of the task force attend many of the coalition forums and also go into schools to talk to students.

“The Opioid Task Force serving Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region in Massachusetts is another example. It’s co-chaired by John Merrigan, Franklin County Register of Probate; Chris Donelan, Franklin County Sheriff; and David Sullivan, Northwestern District Attorney.

“I am so thankful for these and other task forces and coalitions in Massachusetts and across the country for coming together quickly to address this public health crisis and for their tenacity in fighting for individuals and families struggling with addiction.”

*******

Full Text of Congressman McGovern’s Remarks:

“I rise to speak on the rule for consideration of H.R. 5046, the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction (COARA) Act, and H.R. 4641, a bill to provide for the establishment of an inter-agency task force to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication, and for other purposes.

“By the end of this week, the House will have taken up a total of 17 bipartisan ‘opioid-related’ bills, each a critical measure to help us tackle the opioid crisis in a variety of ways as we work to end this scourge hurting so many communities across our country and costing the lives of so many all across this country.

“I am pleased that the House will be considering this critical bipartisan legislation this week, but in all honesty, I am also very concerned that Republicans are not proposing the new funding that is necessary to meaningfully address the opioid crisis. So in addition to passing the bipartisan legislation on the Floor this week, which authorizes a new grant program, we must also provide real new resources in the form of appropriations to ensure that the initiatives in this legislation can be fully implemented. If we don’t do that – all the speeches that we give this week will amount to empty rhetoric. We need to make sure we fund these priorities. This is an emergency.

“Opioid addiction is inflicting a savage daily toll in neighborhoods across America. According to the CDC, 78 Americans die from an opioid overdose every day – and many of them are young people. In 2013, the number of heroin users was 681,000, an increase of more than 250,000 users since 2002. This crisis is affecting every region across the country and every demographic group.

“I have long said that Congress must provide the meaningful resources that are needed to make a difference and save lives and today I am pleased that the we are coming together and taking action to attempt to do just that. These are important first steps.

“In New England, we know all too well the terrible toll of the opioid epidemic. Having seen the damage it has done to the communities that I represent in Central and Western Massachusetts, tackling the opioid epidemic has long been a top priority for me.

“Across Massachusetts the number of opioid overdose deaths climbed by nearly 10 percent – up from 1,282 in 2014 to 1,379 in 2015. Once all cases are finalized by the medical officials in Massachusetts, it’s estimated that there will be an additional 63 to 85 deaths for 2014 and 118 to 179 deaths in 2015.

“In Worcester County alone, home of the second-largest city in New England, opioid-related deaths jumped from 163 in 2014 to 177 in 2015. Looking back at the last 16 years, we can see an even bigger increase. In 2000, there were 59 opioid-related overdose deaths in Worcester County – a small fraction of the 1,289 deaths in 2015.

“Most of last year’s victims were between the ages of 25 and 44, in the prime of their lives with so much to live for. Many left behind families heartbroken and devastated by these senseless deaths. These families include husbands, wives, children, and so many more who loved them and desperately wanted them to get the help they needed and live.

“The opioid epidemic is even harder to cope with for those who have seen young people lose their lives to addiction. In Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, one high school principal said that in the 11 years he has been principal, he has known of 33 students who have been active heroin addicts. Seven of them died and at a recent forum, he learned that there had been even more that he had not known about.

“Part of the problem is the stigma associated with heroin use. I think a lot of us think we know what heroin use and addiction look like, but the reality is it can take hold of anyone, including our neighbors, our friends, and even our own family members.

“However, instead of giving in to despair, communities in Massachusetts and across the country are responding to the opioid epidemic with strength and with courage. They are helping to lead grassroots, state and national coalitions to raise awareness and educate people about the crisis and provide resources to help those ensnared by the addiction.

“The Central Massachusetts Opioid Task Force, chaired by Worcester County District Attorney Joe Early, is a great example of this. They are working to bring greater awareness of the problem to residents. Members of the task force attend many of the coalition forums and also go into schools to talk to students.

“The Opioid Task Force serving Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region in Massachusetts is another example. It’s co-chaired by John Merrigan, Franklin County Register of Probate; Chris Donelan, Franklin County Sheriff; and David Sullivan, Northwestern District Attorney.

“I am so thankful for these and other task forces and coalitions in Massachusetts and across the country for coming together quickly to address this public health crisis and for their tenacity in fighting for individuals and families struggling with addiction.

“Just this week, I had the opportunity to join community leaders at North Brookfield High School in Central Massachusetts for an event with Chris Herren, a former constituent of mine from Fall River and a former Boston Celtics player who now travels to schools in New England and across the country to speak about his own recovery from addiction and the need for young people to stay drug-free.

“I am also grateful to my fellow members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation for being strong partners in this fight. Joe Kennedy is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and has been a leader on this issue – he’s the lead Democratic sponsor of HR 4641. And a number of amendments sponsored by Massachusetts members were made in order last night, including several from Katherine Clark as well as amendments from Seth Moulton, Bill Keating, and Stephen Lynch.

“I also want to commend the leadership of Congresswoman Annie Custer from New Hampshire. She has been out front on this issue for a long, long time and we appreciate her leadership.

“The simple truth is that we’re not going to arrest our way out of this problem. Prevention and treatment must be at the heart of our approach to tackling this epidemic. As part of the comprehensive approach called for, we must equip our young people with the skills necessary to identify constructive ways to deal with problems so that turning to drugs is never an option.

“We must make every effort to ensure that treatment is available to those who seek it. Because it takes courage and strength to admit that you need help. I am pleased that the legislation we are considering this week will do just that.

“I strongly support the legislation this rule makes in order. H.R. 5046, the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act, would establish the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program. With $103 million provided annually over 5 years, this program would help provide vital assistance to state and local agencies to fund treatment alternatives to incarceration, opioid abuse prevention, training, and education.

“The program’s grants could be used to train first responders in carrying and administering opioid overdose reversal drugs, support prescription drug monitoring programs, and strengthen collaborations between criminal justice agencies and substance abuse systems, or for programs targeted toward juvenile opioid abuse programs.

“This legislation is a commonsense bipartisan step that goes a long way to provide the critical help that Americans across this country need to combat our opioid epidemic.

“I also support of H.R. 4641, a bill to provide for the establishment of an inter-agency task force to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication, and for other purposes. Creating this task force is another key step to help strengthen our national response to the opioid crisis and increase inter-agency collaboration as we marshal all of our resources in this fight.

“I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who worked very hard to bring additional bipartisan legislation to the floor this week to tackle the opioid crisis. These bills would take important steps to cut the risk of opioid addiction among veterans managing chronic pain, take on international drug traffickers, improve the treatment and care of babies who are born addicted to opioids, help reduce opioid use among young people, and strengthen access to opioid overdose reversal medication.

“There are many issues that Democrats and Republicans do not see eye to eye on, but I am pleased that both parties are coming together, at least on this first step, to tackle the opioid crisis. For families and communities across the country who have already lost so much and so many to this epidemic, there has never been a more important time for us to take action.

“I want to thank the leaders of both parties for helping to bring these important bipartisan bills to the House floor. I do believe we can end the opioid crisis once and for all.

“But again – let me stress – we need to provide funding to our communities struggling to deal with the opioid and heroin crises. This is an emergency. That’s how you have to classify this and look at this. This is an emergency. People are dying. Without providing the additional resources needed, we will not be part of the solution.

“So the ideas that we have compiled today and are debating this week are all good ideas, but they won’t be real ideas unless they are funded. And I worry that this Congress might not be up to the challenge.

We have emergencies in Flint, Michigan with the water crisis. And we have not done what we needed to do to provide emergency funding for that community. We have a growing emergency with the Zika virus and we can’t get an emergency appropriations bill to the floor.

“So I think that we need to understand that this crisis has risen to the level of an emergency. We need to do what’s right. We need to not only pass these bills, but we need to commit in a bipartisan way that we’re going to provide the necessary funding and I hope we can do that.

“With that, I reserve the balance of my time.”

Animal Issues

Vote YES for humane living quarters for Massachusetts farm animals! End the cruel confinement of veal calves, egg-laying hens and pigs!

February 10, 2016 admin

CLICK HERE to learn more and get involved! Remember: McDonald’s is backing this initiative – and they say they will NOT be upping the price of their Egg McMuffins, etc. if it becomes law.

If McDonald’s, as un-radical a company as they come, can get behind this COMMON SENSE initiative, you can too!

Please! Continue to visit citizensforfarmanimals.com … to learn of new volunteer opportunities, progress made, etc!

THANK YOU! – Rose T.

InCity Voices

The changing meaning of Thanksgiving

November 23, 2015 admin

By Gordon Davis

Like everything else, Thanksgiving changes; nothing on Earth stays the same forever.

The traditional history of Thanksgiving is that of the English Pilgrims migrating to America and landing at Plymouth on December 11, 1621. During that winter the Pilgrims or Puritans lost 46 of their party of 102. The others would have perished, too, if the Native Indians did not have pity on them. They provided the Puritans with corn and other food stuffs. With the help of the Native Indians, the Puritans learned to farm and had a bountiful harvest in 1622. There was a celebration of bounty that Fall.

In 1676 Thanksgiving changed. Charlestown, Massachusetts proclaimed a Thanksgiving for the victory over the “heathen” Indians. This was the end of the King Phillip War in which the town of Quinsigamond, now know as Worcester, was burned to the ground. The Colonialists from Massachusetts and Connecticut killed most of the Native Indian children at Turner Falls in Massachusetts.

The Revolutionary War found Thanksgiving changing once again. This time in October 1777 there was celebration of the Colonialists’ victory over the Imperialist British at the Battle of Saratoga. All 13 Colonies participated.

George Washington proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1789. Abraham Lincoln set the last Thursday of November as the date of celebration for the good fortune of the American Civil War. It was proclaimed to be a legal holiday in 1941 by Congress as the United States was entering World War II.

Besides the traditional and sometimes religious celebrations there is a new meaning: the Day of Mourning for the Native Indians who died due to imperialism and colonialism. This view of Thanksgiving is gaining acceptance, especially among the young.

When I think of Thanksgiving this year I think of my two friends Claire and Scott Schaefer Duffy who have taken a vow of poverty. They live on less than $6,000 a year. Although they have their wants, as we all do, they live a good life. They make do by not living extravagantly and by socialization of needs. Essentially, they do without or they share resources with others.

Today might be the time for all of us to do the same. Conspicuous consumption has led to the development of a world economy that creates poverty, war, disruptions and the destructive forces of global warming and climate changes. There is a need to reduce our standard of living. Some of us will have to share a car or get on a bus. We will have to eat more locally grown food. We will have to share our work.

The point of no return might have already been passed in terms of climate change. When the ice of the polar caps melts, the temperature of the oceans will increase more rapidly than most of us can image.

This Thanksgiving I will be thankful to all of the people who have rejected the temptations of the profit-driven economy and conspicuous spending to live a life where human resources are more valuable than that which glitters. I am thankful for having a family and friends.

I will be thankful for being able to still write these words.

InCity Voices

Why must Charlie be king?

November 17, 2015 admin

By Gordon Davis

Charlie Baker, the Governor of Massachusetts, “proclaimed” yesterday that he would not accept any refugees from the Syrian Civil War.

Twenty four other Republican governors made the same “proclamation.”

Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey, said he would not even accept a 5-year-old child.

The actions of these governors are a political stunt. States have zero authority in regards to immigration. Immigration is exclusively a Federal area of governance. Governor Baker has misled us in thinking that he has some power over refugees from war. This is certainly dishonesty on his part.

This dishonesty continues when His Excellency Mr. Baker uses the pretext of public safety to justify his false and malicious remarks. When he made his so called “proclamation” it was already known that not one of the attackers in France came from Syria. All of them were born within the European Union. One of the victims of the attack was from Syria.

Governor Baker’s actions have likely done more harm than good in that it creates resentment and anger. Already there has been some push back. There is likely to be more push back.

“His Excellency”’s actions and their pretext are further evidence of the racist tendencies of Republicans and their Tea Party constituents.

Please recall that His Excellency Mr. Baker also said he did not want Hispanic children refugees from Central America coming to Massachusetts.

There is a history of racist anti-immigrant fervor in Massachusetts:

In 1854 the so called “Know Nothing” Party aka American Party won elections and was strongest in Boston.

The Know Nothings consisted only of White Protestant men and they oppressed everyone else, including Catholics, Jews. the foreign born, women, and Blacks. Governor Baker seems to be following, at least partially, in The Know Nothings’ footsteps.

In the early Twentieth Century there was what was called the Red Scare in the United States after the Bolsheviks founded the Soviet Union in 1917. Immigrants, some of whom had socialist ideas, were arrested and deported in what are known as the Palmer Raids. Emma Goldman was caught up in this oppression and deported to Russia.

During World War II many Jews fleeing the Nazis were turned away by the United States and forced to return to Germany where they died in the Holocaust.

In the 1990s the Haitian boat people were refused entry into the United States and were forced to live for years in the Guantanamo Bay holding camp.

His Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts has shown he has little compassion and a tendency to fascism. He did not speak of the refugees as people in need.

It would make sense for the Governor to pull back his proclamation. He knows better than to follow the other Republican governors in what seems to be a locked goose step into a moral morass.

Baker should welcome the Syrians and other refugees. He should make their transition to their new homes in the United States as smooth as reasonably possible.

This governor also should be spending more time on fixing the credible problems we have, such as the overloaded DCF, the ill functioning public transportation systems, and inequities of mandatory sentencing. It makes sense to work on the credible problems, instead of the threats that are not credible.

InCity Letters, InCity Voices

Main South: Fight for $15

April 7, 2015 admin

MINIMUM WAGE MUST BE A LIVING WAGE!

Tuesday, April 14

Fight for $15 rally

At McDonald’s on Main Street

12 p.m.

995 Main St, Worcester

*A bus to attend the Boston Rally will leave from here!

Call EPOCA Co-director Delia Vega for details 508-713-8420

************

Boston:

Rally near the Northeastern & Ruggles MBTA stops

4-6 p.m.

*Exact location TBA

*A bus to attend the Boston Rally will leave from here

Contact wageaction.org details 617-952-4211

Green Island Grrrl, InCity Voices, Rosalie's Blog

Massachusetts earns an ‘F’ on 2015 Welfare Reform Report Card

March 19, 2015 admin

Editor’s note: Yes, this report is from a conservative think tank, but I gotta agree … I’ve got a Worcester neighbor who gets subsidized section 8 rent – the government pays her entire rent for the apartment in the Woo three decker where she lives. She also gets Social Security Disability $$ from the government for her asthma and I’m certain the rest of the package: food stamps, Medicaid, fuel assistance, etc but …

… she smokes pot like there’s no tomorrow!

drives a better car than I do!

has a full time boarder who pays her rent (in cash, under the table)!

took a one-week (or two-week, I can’t remember) vacation in Florida during this past brutal winter!

and, in general, hangs around in her apartment doing things like eating fried fish and chips on Fridays and being snoopy about what goes on in our neighborhood. (She saw some local Worcester youths with guns. Didn’t report it to the police.)

WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE PEOPLE DOING IN MY CITY?

How are they contributing to the good of WORCESTER?

Bigger question: Why do we all allow them to play the system, cheat the government, rob hard-working taxpayers? And they act AS IF IT’S THEIR RIGHT to do absolutely nothing with their lives!

There are thousands of these knuckle heads in Worcester, sucking up precious oxygen to live another day to be … utterly pointless.

This is why America has gone from being the #1 country in the world in terms of education, jobs, smarts, strength, resourcefulness, upward mobility to #33 or #11 or … pick your list. We suck in so many ways now! Heartbreaking.

I am all about loving and helping our poor kids, our young moms in horrible domestic situations, our frail elderly, BUT WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THE PEOPLE WHO GET $$$ ASSISTANCE aren’t running rough shod over the system, like the person I’ve just mentioned.

Can’t the US or state government send folks out to do yearly checks on these people, so that if they have rent coming in from boarders their rent subsidy decreases – even slightly?

Should they get a government disability check for poor health/asthma if they are smoking weed EVERY DAY?

Cheaters need to be stopped from cheating! Because they are turning MY city into a shooting gallery ( I’m talking heroin AND bullets), a violent, messed up world, a desperate, chaotic world, a place where ignorance grows thick and lush and people begin to accept it as the norm.

“The train has left the station,” one social services worker sighed the other day.

The poopy pothead I just told you about is one of the hundreds of Worcesterites who need to GET OFF THE TRAIN! They know ZERO about functioning in society. They know ZERO about functioning in a civilized, upwardly mobile, resourceful America. The USA we used to be. The horrible thing is: They feel it’s OK to hang around the periphery! And GET PAID TO DO SO.

They are not even happy. How can you be if you’re so disconnected? ! So they self medicate. They smoke, they shoot up, pop pulls to feel great; they abuse their bodies; they choose to wallow in ignorance and their huge flat screen TV’s. This city is, in many ways, like a huge chunk of America, falling apart at the seams.

I grew up dirt poor on Lafayette Street in Green Island. Many of my childhood memories are like pages ripped from a Charles Dickens’ novel. I’ve shared some of my history with you. Much of it beyond rough and tumble. I saw people like the above person in our Green Island neighborhood. Yes, they were around back then, but not so many. … We were surrounded by people in pain … alcoholics, layabouts, wife beaters, knife wielders and cheats.

My mother refused to be pulled into the shit. She transcended the shit. The shit made her brilliant and it made me ME. My mom, who died almost three years ago, did not take any government $$/assistance. She was proud and, thank God, determined, sensitive, strong and wicked smart, probably gifted – you had to be to rise above that ocean of urban misery!

She made our lives SPECIAL because she made us all FULLY ENGAGED. IN Worcester, in the American ideal. She and her three girls (my two sisters and I) were all over Worcester! The public schools, the public library, the parks, the park programs, the Girls Club, the Friendly House, downtown, neighborhood gatherings, our church, school sports teams for my sisters. We were busy and it was GREAT.

Cuz when you’re engaged you get educated, learn stuff, feel a part of something bigger. You are rewarded for your participation. Not in bucks, often times, but in GOOD FEELINGS/VIBES.

Never underestimate the power of good vibrations! For my mom: Work every day. Long hours but a steady paycheck. Interaction with her beloved customers at the dry cleaners where she worked, the pride in looking and being professional with customers, the pride in completing a bunch of tasks successfully, the chance to use her brain to do math, work the cash register, the chance to have fun with/ work with co workers and become friends with a few of them. For us kids: School every day. Hard work but …honors classes, validation from teachers, school plays, fun, sports, music classes, PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER AND BETTER than the pain of our poverty. GOOD VIBRATIONS!!!!

Good vibrations sans drugs, booze, weed, guns!

If you work, no matter what the job, you feel good. If you go to school, no matter at what level, you feel good.

BECAUSE you are part of the action. The system is not perfect. Minimum wage still sucks. Some teachers still blow. But YOU WORK to make the system better by VOTING, PROTESTING, MARCHING, …

Be a PART OF IT.

The welfare cheats cheat themselves out of A LIFE.

Anyways, here’s the report:

– Rosalie Tirella

**********

State finishes 49th of 50 states on welfare reform policies

CHICAGO – Massachusetts is among seven states that earned an “F” for its welfare reform policies on the 2015 Welfare Reform Report Card, a comprehensive piece of scholarship produced by four public policy researchers at The Heartland Institute .

Massachusetts was the state with the second-worst welfare reform policies, finishing No. 49 of the 50 states. Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Missouri also earned F grades on the report card.

Nearly two decades ago, in 1996, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed a reform measure ending the national entitlement to welfare for families with dependent children. Each state implemented welfare reform differently and a natural experiment began, allowing researchers to discover welfare policies that help people become financially independent and escape poverty.

“Massachusetts is a great state. I lived in Massachusetts for two years. There’s some very smart people. You’ve got Harvard; You’ve got MIT. There is no reason in the world why Massachusetts can’t do better,” MacDougal said.

“If you look at our one-page summary for Massachusetts, it jumps right out at you,” Mac Dougal said.

“Four of the five policy measures that we evaluate are F:

“They are at the bottom in work requirements.

“They are at the bottom, they have no cash diversion – and the majority of states do have cash diversion.

“Their time limits are out at the outer edge. So people can hang around on the rolls a long time without taking the steps they need to get work.”

“And the sanctions… the sanctions are proven by the economic studies to have a real effect on stimulating people to find work. So all you have to do is have 4 Fs out of 5 and you can earn your way to the bottom,” Mac Dougal said.

The 2015 Welfare Reform Report Card grades five policies key to the goal of welfare:

raising the standard of living of the nation’s poor by moving them to work and self-sufficiency.

Those five policies are work requirements, cash diversion, service integration, time limits, and sanctions. Massachusetts’ grades:

To read the welfare reform report card – and compare Massachusetts to every other state in the union using an interactive map – visit heartland.org/welfare-reform.

The Heartland Institute is a 31-year-old national nonprofit organization headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems.

InCity Voices

Residents, Citizens and the Franchise

February 22, 2015 admin

By Gordon T. Davis

Until relatively recently, residency was the only requirement for people to vote in state and local elections in some states in America.

There has always been a requirement of citizenship for people to vote in federal elections.

At the turn of last century, 40 states had laws allowing non-citizen residents to vote. By the early 1920s, no state allowed non-citizen residents to vote.

The disenfranchisement of non-citizens is thought by some to be a reaction to immigrant workers coming to the USA. To a certain extent it was also a reaction to the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia as seen in the so called Palmer Raids and deportations of radicals such as Emma Goldman.

It is time to take another look at the franchise for non-citizen residents of Massachusetts.

There are at least three Massachusetts cities that have sent home rule petitions to the Massachusetts legislature that would have allowed non-citizen residents to vote in City Council and School Committee elections. They are: Newton, Cambridge and Amherst.

The legislature failed to act on these home rule petitions. These Massachusetts cities did not have a majority “minority” population or majority minority school enrollment.

Cities such as Worcester, Lowell and Southbridge could likely benefit from the allowance of non-citizen residents voting, as they have an increasingly rising percentage of immigrant population.

This implies that their city governments do not reflect in a true manner the population of their respective city.

Worcester, for example, has a large, relatively older population that has fewer children in the school system. For them, the Worcester Public Schools might seem to be a drain on their taxes instead of an essential part of the fabric of our city/society.

Many parents of children in the Worcester Public Schools are immigrant, permanent residents who can’t vote the aspirations of their children.

Although the school committee has not shown any overt biases on this matter, sometimes it seems to me that it struggles understanding the issues facing the immigrant population.

Besides the moral fiber of our city being positively enhanced by non citizen residents voting in local election there are other persuasive arguments in its favor: The first is that the non citizen resident is being taxed without being able to have the same voice as other tax payers. There should be not taxation without representation. The second reason is that the franchise encourages non citizen residents to participate more fully in the community.

It has been made clear by many to me that they don’t want non citizens to vote in local elections. Some of these anti-resident franchise people are part of a movement to remove the franchise from citizens by means of voter ID laws, voter suppression and voter intimidation. This has especially adverse impacts in some of the minority communities in which people with a CORI have been permanently disenfranchised, even though they are citizens.

If a home rule petition to allow non citizen residents to vote in local elections is to have a chance of passage in the Massachusetts legislature there will have to be collaboration by people in the Massachusetts cities with a relatively high immigrant population: Worcester, Chelsea and more.

Ironically, the collaborators would have to resort to rallies, marches, sit-ins – tactics similar to those used by women suffragettes. This battle will more than likely be won in the streets instead of the State House.

Even if the respective home rule petition fails, the collaboration will likely have a positive effect and improve Massachusetts’ image world-wide. Our state will be seen as a global place, not restricted by what seems at times to be the unreasonable restrictions of nationalism and reaction.